Sharrow Bay Country House

Home of the original Sticky Toffee Pudding!! I was so excited, after I taste-tested some at Harvey Nics, I knew I wanted to come and try out everything else.

Food

We were given an amuse of Meat wrap with tomato chutney while we pursued the menu. It was a bit different to what we are used to, and quite nice. The menu was a choice of 4 courses. We chose:

Entrée

• Suissesse Souffle of Stilton, Spinach and Roasted Onion - a big dish with a strong enough cheese flavour not to make it boring.
• Roast Breast of Quail on Truffle Fettuccini with Brandy and Wild Mushroom Sauce - I don’t think it’s game season, but the quail is still nice.
• Dressed Crab, Rosette of Local Smoked Salmon and Sautéed Scallop with Pineapple and Mango Salsa - lovely and sweet crab, good quality ingredients.

2nd course:

• Roast Parsnip, Chestnut and Apple Soup - not strong in any particular flavour, but palette cleansing.
• Fillet of Plaice with Tomato and Olive Risotto - much better than sea bass, but the risotto could do with a bit more work

An inter-course of Sharrow Fruit Sorbet followed, a refreshing pink grapefruit…but I think I felt quite full afterwards.

Main:

• Scottish Fillet Steak with Steak and Kidney Pudding with Marinated Cherry Tomatoes, Seasonal Vegetables and Burgundy Sauce
• Best End and Braised Shoulder of Herdwick Lamb with Creamed Savboury Cabbage, Dauphinoise Potatoes and Tomato and Thyme Sauce - a big hunk of lamb, with beautifully paired sides of vegetables.
• Breast of Gressingham Duckling with Braised Red Cabbage, Apple and Raisin, Sharrow Black Pudding and Apple and Sage Sauce - not too much duckling taste

Dessert:

• Francis Coulson's Famous and Original Icky Sticky Toffee Sponge served with Cream - this didn’t disappoint. It’s definitely not like this sweet imitation sweets you get. The sponge retains its moisture and the sauce was very nice.
• Sharrow Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter and Rum Sauce - very heavy rum taste and heavy on the raisins. As far as Christmas Puddings go it was a good one, but I never like Christmas pudding anyway.
• Iced Cranberry and Grand Marnier Parfait, Almond Florentine and Caramelised Clementines - this was beautifully executed. A not too sweet milky textured dessert with yummy clementines.

We finished with some tea and coffee of course, since this place is a well-known tea house. The teas were served in the proper cups and saucers, with some Chocolate and Flapjacks as petit fours. I was so full I couldn’t really drink or eat, but it was so nice just to be sitting on the comfy couches again, that I nearly fell asleep.

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

Spectacular, it’s like a big country house (and it was for the guests, who could wonder downstairs from their bedrooms to have tea, sit by the fire or have a formal dinner). We were seated in one of the sitting rooms, with a piano, lots of period furniture, and given some amuse, before we were finally led into the dining room. We secured one of the best spots, tucked away in the corner, with a window that looks out onto the lake beyond, and the sun shining in our faces (which, incidentally, is a GOOD thing). After our very full meal, we relaxed again in the sitting room while we had tea and coffee. I really didn’t want to leave.

Rating - 3

Service

Very polite in that English stiff upper lip kind of way. I thought the food was a bit slow, but that was probably a good thing, as it gave us time to digest the food.

Rating - 3

C-factor

£50 including coffee or tea and petit fours. Pretty expensive, but the servings were generous and the setting was magical, so I can’t complain too much.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 14.5

Info

Sharrow Bay
Lake Ullswater
Penrith
Cumbria
CA10 2LZ
Phone +44 (0) 17 6848 6301
Website